ing the zeal to obtain it. You have given way to the supposition, that by reason of travelling it might be in my power to convey to yourselves some portion of the knowledge so acquired. Your desire to receive it from me is a pardonable one, and I feel willing, not only to comply with your wishes, in relation to myself, but to aid you hereafter, in bringing before you any others, perhaps more reluctant ones, who may possess the means of affording instruction in a similar way; for I assure you it is my very earnest desire that every one who may have acquired the ability to serve his neighbours, by imparting instruction, may not withhold the distribution of it to his own discomfort. In accordance with your arrangements, I now venture to submit the gleanings of that information which has come of an absence of ix months, accompanied by one of my daughters as my companion, in travelling through a large portion of the United States, Canada, and the island of Cuba. It is not my intention to reduce my observations into heads or chapters, but throughout these lectures to carry on a sort of renewed intercourse with every locality I have visited, and thus to facilitate my descriptions by the localising of my ideas and recollections. By this arrangement I hope I shall be able to diffuse over every evening a greater variety of local interest, and a wider range of expression of opinion, more especially upon slavery and politics. In respect of these, and upon all other matters also, I shall endeavour to repreSent very faithfully whatever I may have heard, leaving to yourselves to draw from my observations whatever conclusions you may think proper. The desire to travel abroad is commendable. It comes of that enlarged desire for knowledge which is sure to make discovery of something acceptable, whether in arts, science, literature, agriculture, commerce, or in the study of those institutions which have relation to political or civil life. It affords to the eyes

as well as the mind, an unspeakable gratification in beholding and in contemplating those wonders and beauties of nature, which are to be found in every country as essentially its own. And, in my own experience, the enjoyments have far outweighed any risk of disasters. The hazards of crossing the Atlantic may appear serious to many persons, but they will appear very slight when you take into account the sailing of the Cunard steamers, week by week, for nineteen years, without any loss of human life. Our outgoing passage was boisterous, being early in the month of January. The sleet and snow became frozen, and for some days prevented our taking exercise on deck. The sun was overcast, and for many days prevented the captain from taking his noonday observations of the course we were steering. The storm broke one of the paddle boxes; the waves entered the chimney; the pas sengers were confined to the saloon, and were having recourse to reading, chess playing, and other amusements. We landed safely at New York upon the coldest day, as we were told, that they had ever known. The navigation of the rivers had been closed, and from day to day there was anxiety arising out of reported disasters on the coast. The streets of the city presented an animating scene, being traversed by sleighs instead of wheel carriages. To a stranger the use of sleighs in winter presents a sort of freaky appearance; many of them are open conveyances, very superbly mounted, often filled with ladies, and well supplied with wrappers of buffalo skins, and other furs; and despite the biting frosts, the travellers appear to enjoy the dry and bracing wintry atmosphere which prevails in that country. The city of New York stands upon a neck of land forming the point of Manhattan Island, having on two of its sides navigable waters of about a mile in breadth, which separate it from the two adjoining cities of Jersey and Brooklyn. Betwixt

these two cities and New York there is a continuous stream of intercourse carried on by steam boats of a very commodious construction. The centre part down the length of these boats forms a sort of street, which is often crowded with carts and carriages. On both sides of the water, the point of the boat enters the street, and as the tides rise only six feet, the joint of the landing stage adjusts the height of the boat to the level of the street. In this way, the moment that the boat has been moored in one of these street grooves, the carts and other conveyances move onwards without hindrance. Upon each of the sides overhanging this central part of the boat, there is an elegant reception room provided for the accommodation of the foot passengers. The comfortable style of arrangement thus provided for passengers, appeared to contrast very favourably against the exposure on deck and the scanty accommodation which passengers on the Mersey are accustomed to receive in passing from Liverpool to Birkenhead; and the fares which are charged are very low indeed. The locality and design of the city of New York, bear evidence of foresight and sanitary provision which cannot be too highly appreciated. The same may be also said of Philadelphia and other principal cities on the seaboard. In order to estimate the necessity of this study, we must bear in mind that ourselves in Lancashire, who are residing about 54 degrees of

north latitude, are in an atmosphere which is humid and cold, and therefore we may build our towns and cities without any especial regard to the pronotion of currents of air through our principal streets. The leading cities of the United States are nearly 1,000 miles south of Lancashire, or about the same latitude as Spain or Portugal, and therefore the prevalence of heat and fever renders it necessary to have their principal streets formed in straight fines, and with openings to the sea which surrounds.

them, so that the currents created by the rising and falling of the tides may aid their ventilation. The straight lines of streets, and the formation of square blocks of houses, give an appearance of stiffness to the look of a city; but this arrangement has its advantages in affording facilities for the discovery of any given house or street by a numerical system, after the manner of longitude and latitude; such a number for instance, as that of 1,105 means the fifth house in the eleventh street. Broadway is the principal street in New York; it is nearly the width of Regent Street, in London, and the shops and fancy stores resemble Regent Street, though the effect is less imposing, and is, perhaps, less carefully studied by the proprietors. This street is already a good many miles in length, and is laid down with a view to become extended beyond any limits at present conceivable. The original habitations, which were made of wood, have given place to others of brick, and now the brick ones are being moved to make way for enlarged erections of marble. The value of property in Broadway has increased amazingly. The residence of a gentleman, with a frontage of 22 feet, which thirty years ago cost him £600, was last year sold for £15,000. In some of the streets they have adopted a mode of con veyance by railway cars worked by horses. This has been found useful and cheap, but the inhabitants complain of the damage which is sustained to the estimation of the streets wherever they have been introduced. The utility of one-horse cabs they do not appreciate. We never saw one. They have their stand coaches, with two horses each, such as we formerly kept on hire, and the fares appear discretional or according to bargain. Upon a rainy day, the sum of two dollars, or 8s. 4d., was demanded as the fare for half an hour. I offered onehalf the sum, and it was declined. I then pointed the attention of the driver to the string of twenty

other carriages, all waiting to be employed, and remarked upon the uncertainty of his making any money at all within the next half hour. He very coolly replied "The rain is falling very fast, and I guess I'll spec it;" or in other words he preferred to speculate upon the chances which might offer, and so I left him.

The Fifth Avenue is the most splendid street in New York. From one point of observation there stands before you an array of modern-built mansions, perhaps unequalled for their magnificence. There are in London many individual mansions of greater splendour, but taking the street as a whole, there is an appearance of architectural design and completeness which is rarely to be met with. In one of these houses where we paid a visit to the family, the drawing-room is one hundred and thirty-five feet in length, and was very tastefully decorated with pictures, statuary, and works of art, which had been selected in various parts of Europe, and at an unsparing amount of expense. The dining and other rooms of

as many as

the house appeared of large proportions and highly furnished. The entertainments were numerous, and many of them upon a large scale. In one instance we found that the number of guests was upwards of seven hundred, and the house was not over-crowded. The hotels are enormously large; many of them are provided with three hundred beds in each, and others eight hundred to one thousand. [The elevation and style of one of these buildings was shown, the lower portions being used as shops, the upper rooms for entertainment or lodging.] In numerous instances we found that they were resorted to not alone by travellers, but as the temporary home of newly-married persons who had entered upon life without sufficient means to begin housekeeping, or without the usual precaution of being provided with a home of their own. It appeared somewhat repulgive to one's ideas of married life to see the husband